Many people are in a stage of life that whether due to age or disability or other conditions, they require some form of health, emergency monitoring, or other communication services while living independently. Unfortunately, many of these services offer limited connectivity and features, and therefore under serve the desires of their respective users. Further, devices which offer additional connectivity and features generally require more technological skill to operate than is feasible to expect from the users of these products.
Current monitoring and communications systems of this type are also generally restricted to being home-based systems. As a result, users of such systems are often left unprotected in the event that they want to go out and conduct every day activities. Another disadvantage of home-based designs is that even when in the home, a user-worn device generally communicates with an intermediate device which is tied to a home-based phone system, which are more prone to failure in power-loss and other emergency situations.